Multi-Modals

We know you hate them,

here’s some survival tips.

Thesi

s Sta

tem

ents

Try not to pick anything too common,

or too specific. You don’t want to be overwhelmed with research or underwhelmed.

Make it original! Make

your inquiry question

something that we wouldn’t have thought

of.

Rese

arc

h?

USE GOOGLE SCHOLAR!

You won’t have access to

all websites and articles

but most Google books

will have free previews

that can help a lot! Email me at broganlayne.beenen@gr

iffithuni.edu.au to get some help!

VISIT http://msbeenen.wikispa

ces.com

Ugh s

o m

uch

re

adin

g

Don’t be picky, look over as

many things as you can, if you

haven’t looked at least 25

pieces of research you are not

researching enough.

Don’t expect all sources to be

relevant but don’t discount

sources you think will have no

relevance. If there are major themes to

focus on, FOCUS on them. Each

conflict is defined by something

that can relate to other conflicts

ex: Holocaust is a Genocide…

what makes it stand apart!

This

Suck

s!

Read the first two sentences and

last two sentences of each

paragraph on super long articles.

You should be able to understand

what the article is talking about

and if it will be relevant to your

task. If you’ve read something that

sucks, don’t forget about it! Put it

in your rough bib and talk about

why it was bad! If you read something that you

really don’t agree with, don’t be

scared to write about that! Some

of the best presentations and

essays are people refuting an

already created thesis!

Thin

k about

it!

Some major questions to think

about: Why is this act so

important? What do I think about

this act? What does the world

think about this act? Who was

involved? Did it change things?

What are some things people

don’t know about this act? How

would I have done things

differently? Imagine you have to prove you

are the leading expert on this act

of terrorism and we know nothing

about it, don’t bore us, get us

interested and engaged! If you’re

bored with the topic, we’re bored

too.

Now

what?

Write anything and everything

down in an outline of how you

want things to go. This should

be rough/crazy/messy because

your ideas should be that way

too! Now take that outline and

polish it! Go through all your

points, if it doesn’t need to be

in there, take it out. Some

anecdotes are interesting but

we don’t need the entire

history of it. Take that polished outline and

cut it in half. That right there is

your presentation.

Wri

te a

nd w

rite

and w

rite

again

.

Start writing. It’s going to

suck the first time around so

get someone to read it to you

and write again. Once you have finished your

second draft, walk away and

do something fun. Go back to your draft and

edit. Have someone else edit it as

well. If you can’t read it to

someone with confidence, it

is not your best work!

USE P

EO

PLE

Some people are smarter than

you, some people are more

organized than you, some

people are just better at

things, get over it and use

them! If you know someone who does

exceedingly well at essays,

they should probably read

yours for you. If you know

someone who is amazing at

acting, ask them for presentation skills. If you know

someone who has gone to

university, ask for access to

their databases.

What

you n

eed

to h

and in

As a group you need to hand in a lesson

plan, annotated bibliography and your

“scripts”/ final draft. Your lesson plan will show how you are

going to teach us about the act, what

you are going to talk about, what

resources you used and later you will

complete a reflection on how you think

it went. Lesson plan template will be online.

You will be marked as a group, your

annotated bibliography will be marked

individually so MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS

CONTRIBUTING. If you feel like someone in your group is

lagging. Kick them out, no questions

asked. Your mark is worth more than

their laziness.

DO

N’T

EV

EN

D

AR

E!

Nothing is worse than watching you

read off a paper. If you aren’t

comfortable standing in front of the

class, record yourself reading.

Don’t pick something you know you

can’t put your best effort into. While

it is great to try new things, now is

not the time to practice your drawing

skills or compose a piece of music if

you have no prior experience.

Don’t mumble. If I can’t hear you say

it, I’ll just assume it wasn’t said at

all. Don’t fidgit! If you really need to

work out some anxiety, bring a paper

clip to hold and fiddle with while you

talk but don’t make it obvious!

These

are

dangero

us

tim

es

we li

ve in

.

Be respectful. There is

nothing more disgusting

than watching people

laugh, giggle, or talk over

presentations that deal

with sensitive issues. Be respectful to the

people involved in your

act of terrorism. Victims

are people. Respect what

they have gone through.

Make

it e

xcit

ing

and e

ngagin

g

Remember, this presentation is

not as much about the history of

the attack as it is about

developing an inquiry about it.

If you only give us a history you

will fail, think of a question you

want answered about the attack

and then answer it through

facilitated and mediated class

discussion. You only have 7-10 minutes so

don’t make a huge activity that

won’t be finished in time.

Feel free to make worksheets

that I can post online for the rest

of the class to enjoy.

Don’t

leave

it t

ill

the la

st m

inute

…

Seriously…don’t leave it till the

last minute. If you can’t work

weeks ahead of time, at least do

your research and get a good

outline ready If you are going to leave it to the

last minute, stock up on coffee

and forget about sleep because

you should still make it the best

project you can do. You can always tell if something

was thrown together, whether it

was thrown together 3 weeks

before the due date or 3 minutes

before. Don’t let your

presentation fail itself.

Thin

gs

that

should

be

done b

y now

, and if

they

are

n’t

get

doin

g t

hem

!

You should have thesis statement.

Not just something you’d like to

maybe work on, but a damn good,

glorious, beautiful thanks be to

god thesis statement.

You should have some research

done that is not wikipedia.

Wikipedia is the devil, so tempting

but so not good for your grades.

You should have a rough outline.

Doesn’t matter if it’s a concept

map, a binder full of research and

ideas, or some symbols written in

blood. If its going to help you

organize your work than it should

work!

Thin

gs

you

should

not

be

doin

g.

Acting like an idiot. Talking to other people about

stupid things. Googling things that have no

relevance to your project.

Acting like an idiot. Watching TED talks that have

no relevance to your project

(although TED is magical and

I highly promote it) Sleeping. Texting. Acting like an idiot.

GET W

OR

KIN

G Come see me or Mrs.

Rowlands if you need

help.